The Metabolic Theory of Ecology

The model of West, Brown & Enquist (WBE) is built on the assumption that the metabolic rate of cells is determined by the architecture of the vascular network that supplies them with oxygen and nutrients. For a fractal-like network, and assuming that evolution has minimised cardiovascular costs, the WBE model predicts that s=metabolism should scale with mass with an exponent, b, of 0.75 at infinite size, and ~ 0.8 at realistic larger sizes. Scaling exponents ~ 0.75 for standard or resting metabolic rate are observed widely, but far from universally, including in some invertebrates with cardiovascular systems very different from that assumed in the WBE model. Data for field metabolic rate in vertebrates typically exhibit b ~ 0.8, which matches the WBE prediction. Addition of a simple Boltzmann factor to capture the effects of body temperature on metabolic rate yields the central equation of the Metabolic Theory of Ecology (MTE). The MTE has become an important strand in ecology, and the WBE model is the most widely accepted physical explanation for the scaling of metabolic rate with body mass. Capturing the effect of temperature through a Boltzmann factor is a useful statistical description but too simple to qualify as a complete physical theory of thermal ecology.